Figments
by RJEisenhuth
Summary: An odd set of circumstances has Dr. Russell believing something mysterious and alien is happening on Moonbase Alpha. Is she right or is it simply the result of a head injury?
1. Chapter 1

**Space: 1999**

 ** _FIGMENTS_**

(1)

Dr. Russell blamed herself. She should have been far more careful.

Although stressed, in need of a few nights of deep sleep, Cedrick Flemming seemed a reasonable man. He was tall and muscular, a bearded bear of a technician, but well-liked by all, including his wife, Clara.

It was Dr. Mathias who - last week - said Flemming was displaying signs of paranoia and anxiety. It happened after the moon was thrust through another mysterious space warp. This was the third in two weeks and all the Alphans were on edge, not just worried for their lives but the integrity of their moonbase.

Flemming more than most.

He was coming to Mathias for counselling. Everyone on Alpha, at one time or another, displayed signs of pressure and disconnection but Flemming's truly came to the fore-front after the warp. He and others were caught in an explosion in the Eagle Hanger. Yasko had been there too, delivering paperwork, as was Alan Carter. Thankfully, except for a few bumps and bruises none of the three were harmed.

But then Flemming started to talk about how his wife and all his workmates were "changing", becoming odd and somehow unfamiliar. He was brought into Medical for observation and when Clara came in to see Cedrick he became agitated and said he did not want her close. He feared his own wife!

The man should have been strapped to his bed after he was sedated - but he was not.

Helena turned around after dropping the sleep inducer on a tray and there was Flemming, standing in front of her, tall and inexplicable. His expression was so odd. She could not say he was deranged exactly but he seemed so afraid!

"I don't think you're one of them yet, Doctor!" he said, grasping her shoulders. "But you soon will be if you do not listen to me!"

"Cedrick, you're ill…" she started.

"I need to get out of here!"

He then picked Helena up and tossed her aside, slamming her into a far wall.

Helena's head made a hard contact with the window that acted as a partition between units and she thought she heard it break before she lost consciousness.

* * *

Thirty minutes later she awakened in a Medical Center bed with John Koenig, Mathias and a nurse looking down at her. Helena sat up quickly and hand instantly touched the back of her neck and head, feeling a large bump. The pain was awful.

"Helena, careful!" Koenig's fingers on her shoulder were soothing as Dr. Mathias shone a light into her eyes. "Dizziness? Nausea?" he asked.

"A little." Helena was honest as she looked over to the unit where Flemming was now strapped in and sleeping restlessly. Clara was by his side, seated and appearing grieved. "Is he okay?" she asked.

"He'll be fine." Koenig replied, appearing slightly irritated. "But he's going to be placed under constant surveillance and medicated."

Helena wanted to tell them all about the extraordinary fear she saw in his eyes but the pain in her shoulders, from the impact with the glass and wall, made her shudder. She felt Mathias apply a hypodermic shot and asked, "Pain killer?"

"Yes." He then handed her a bottle of pills. "Take a couple of these before you go to bed. I'd tell you to stay here tonight for observation but, knowing you, you'll want to go back to your own quarters."

"You know me well." She admitted and slid off of the bed. Helena appreciated John holding her steady and smiled mildly when the Commander told Bob he was going to escort her to her quarters himself.

"I will make sure she gets the rest she needs." he promised.

* * *

"What a mess." Helena said as he helped her on with the silky blue pajama top. She glanced at the bottle of pills on her bedside table. Helena just took two and was already feeling fatigue. She tied the front of her top and once again reached to the back of her neck to gently massage an ache. "I'm sorry, John."

"No _sorry_ needed." He had slipped into his own pajamas and told her he was staying the night to keep an eye on her.

"We don't often get time off together and tonight was … Well, it was going to be special." She said, meaningfully.

"It won't be the last." He promised, gently. "Come on."

He pulled the sheet down on her bed and helped Helena slide inside. John then turned down the light and walked around the bed. He lay beside Helena, spooning her and gently slipped an arm around Helena's waist, "Sleep well." He whispered.

* * *

Helena awoke at 2am. The lump on the back of her head felt like it was the size of a boulder, the pain excruciating, and she carefully got out of bed. John was still sound-asleep, his steady breathing lulling her to sleep on more than one occasion, and she was glad she did not wake him.

She reached for the pills on her bedside table but the bottle was missing. Helena blinked and tried to adjust her eyes in the dark. Puzzled, she walked slowly to the bathroom and, entering, she turned on the light.

The bottle was sitting on the sink. She did not remember putting it there and could only assume John must have relocated it before they went to bed.

She poured out a couple of the muscle relaxers onto her palm and got water from the sink. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. She was pale and looked as miserable as she felt.

She took the pills and sipped some water.

But something was wrong.

Helena looked at her reflection again, lifting a hand to her cheek. Something seemed off. The image before her was moving slower, or not quite in the same way she was … That was silly, of course. Helena once again looked at the pill bottle and wondered if Bob had given her the right medication.

With a deep breath, Helena shut off the light and exited the bathroom. She carefully slid in beside John, who was now lying on his back, still deeply asleep. She took the arm closest to her and squeezed it gently. She then placed her head on his shoulder and also fell asleep.

She did not hear the "ping" as the mirror in her bathroom cracked.

* * *

 _ **(to be continued ...)**_


	2. Chapter 2

**(2)**

If Helena had any reservations about how odd matters were becoming on Moonbase Alpha, her suspicions were doubled when she walked into Medical Center. Although better, she still wasn't one hundred percent. However, the sight of a chuckling Flemming, sitting up on the same bed he had been strapped to the night before, holding hands with his wife as they quietly and intimately talked, seemed more than peculiar.

She stood at Medical Center's double doors for a moment, taking it in.

Dr. Mathias approached with an electronic clipboard in his hands, "He's fine." Bob said, "I'm releasing him."

 _"_ _Releasing him?"_ Helena looked at her second in command, stricken. "Bob are you completely forgetting about last night? He nearly .."

"I know is seems bizarre, Doctor. But look at him. He shows no signs of paranoia, erratic behavior, and he and Clara are cozy."

It was Mathias' term of "cozy" that made Helena give him a double-take. Something here was not right. Helena thought about Flemming's words, how he had insisted that the people around him were changing.

"He is still under my counselling." Dr. Mathias assured. "I think he just had a bad night. Probably a bad mix of medication. He doesn't even remember what he did to you."

Helena held her bottle of muscle relaxers tightly in her right hand, out of view. Mathias' glibness was annoying but he might have something there. Could computer be distributing faulty medication? She had to admit, simply by observation, Flemming appeared a new man. Carefully, she walked over to him as Mathias followed.

"Cedrick, how are you?" she asked, gently.

He smiled oddly and completely at ease. "Wonderful, Doc. I'm beginning to think that therapeutic sleep last night was what I really needed to relax the nerves. I woke up this morning and saw Clara – and I remembered what we mean to each other – and all that ridiculous resentment melted away." He took in Helena's troubled expression, "Oh and Dr. Russell, they told me what I did to you. I'm sorry about last night. Really I am. I just went a little crazy there. I promise it won't happen again."

"You said people were changing around you." She reminded, "You said _I_ hadn't yet and … I think you wanted to tell me more but …"

"He didn't mean it." Clara said quickly, the expression on her dark face a bit more hard than necessary.

If Helena didn't know better she would swear the woman appeared defensive.

Her vision took in the glass partition, the one she has been thrown against. The glass was intact. Helena could have sworn she heard it break before she passed-out. Then Helena recalled her morning with John Koenig ...

* * *

Helena awoke with a mild headache but, for the most part, her aches and pains were minimal. She was delighted. From past experience she knew the day after a trauma the pain was often worse. Apparently the medication and hypo-shot Bob gave her worked some magic.

Carefully, she turned her head and watched as John Koenig dressed, poking his arms through the sleeves of his dark jacket. "I caught you." She whispered, her voice nearly like a cat's purr. "You were going to sneak away this morning after our night of passion. Such a cad." She teased.

The Commander, aware she was awake, chuckled. "What _passion_?" He asked and walked over to her as Helena cautiously sat up in bed, "Feeling better?" he asked.

"Much." She replied. "And it's strange. I should feel terrible." Her eyes took in her night stand and, distracted, she saw the bottle of pills resting near her comlock. "That's odd ..."

"What?" Koenig asked and sat at the edge of her bed, near Helena's legs. "Your medication?"

"The bottle was in the bathroom last night. I didn't bring them out here." She looked at John, "Did you?"

"No, I remember you putting them on the table here."

Helena blinked and her brow crinkled, "I thought so too but I woke up early this morning in pain and they weren't here. I found them in the bathroom."

John shrugged, "You must have brought them back out last night."

"Suppose I could have. My head was a little jumbled and …"

"Oh, that reminds me." He interrupted, placing one of his hands on her covered leg. "You didn't tell me your bathroom mirror was cracked. I went in to shower this morning and saw it. Be sure to let maintenance know so they can install a new one."

"What?"

Her surprise made him pause. "The break runs length-wise from bottom left to upper right."

"There _was_ nothing wrong with that mirror, John. Are you certain?"

He nodded and watched as an agitated Helena got out of bed and looked for herself. Her expression concerned him. She appeared a little lost and alarmed. "Helena?" He stood and followed her, walking into the bathroom and standing behind Helena as they both examined the crack.

"I swear this was not here last night, John." She whispered, looking at the fissure from top to bottom. "And there was something else …" She reached forward and touched the glass, "My reflection was wrong …"

"Wrong?" John Koenig looked steadily at Helena's image in the mirror, appearing slightly alarmed. He put his hands on her shoulders, "Helena, you took a good hit to the head yesterday. Maybe Dr. Mathias should run some tests."

"John!" She turned and looked up at him, annoyed that he would think her injury was causing her to hallucinate. He should know she was made of stronger stuff than that! She walked from the bathroom back into her living quarters. "I know what I saw. No head throbbing would make me forget my mirror was damaged." She said, then thought again about something she considered last night. "But maybe …" Helena picked up the medication from her bedside table. "Maybe the fault is with my prescription."

Behind her, John nodded and felt a little relieved. "An overdose?"

"Possibly. But some medications do not work well with certain people. Maybe I have an allergy – or I took too much."

Gently, the Commander turned Helena around so he could look directly at her. He softly held Helena in his arms and her reluctant smile was warming. "Then don't take any more and go see Bob first thing, okay?"

"I will." She promised. Helena could not stay angry with John Koenig for too long. He cared and he believed in her but it was in his nature to think of the most logical explanation to a problem first. "And I will call maintenance about the mirror too."

Affectionately, they embraced.

* * *

John told her he was working later that evening but should be off by nine. Perhaps, if she was feeling better, they could enjoy the together-time they missed. He would see if he could find a nice bottle of wine in storage.

Helena said she would like that and with a gentle kiss, assured that she was feeling better, he left Helena to get dressed

The mirror and what she thought she saw inside still bothered Helena but that was a lost notion as she again observed Flemming who was standing, appeared well, and told she and Dr. Mathias he was ready to go back to work.

She had never seen a man, so fraught with fear and panic, recover so quickly in her life. "Cedrick," she spoke quietly, nearly confidentially - "If you would like to talk with me about …"

"It's okay, Doc." He assured jovially. "I have a session with Dr. Mathias in a couple days."

With that, he allowed Clara to take his arm, and the couple walked from Medical Center.

Mathias handed the clipboard over to Helena in a "You see." Gesture. "Sometimes a recovery is just that, Dr. Russell. We should be thankful, not suspicious." Reluctantly, she signed off on Flemming's release form. She watched as Bob then walked away and into his own office.

Again, Helena could not help feeling a disconnection. Something was deeply wrong but she could not exactly pin point the difficulty. It was not just in Flemming's unbelievable recovery but Dr. Mathias appeared unconventional and so easily convinced. It was almost as if he was daring Helena to disagree with his conclusion.

Nurse Paula approached Helena with a wide smile and noted the pill bottle she held in her hand. "Did you need something, Dr. Russell?" she asked.

"No." She looked from Paula to the pill bottle. "I need to do some testing. Thank you." She watched the young woman walk away. It suddenly occurred to Helena that the nurse was off too.

She had never seen the always serious Paula smile on duty before.

* * *

 _ **(To be continued ...)** Thank you for your comments! _


	3. Chapter 3

**(3)**

Helena left Medical Center as perplexed as when she walked in.

She had developed another headache and gently touched the back of her head. The swelling from impact had gone down and the stiffness through her shoulders certainly was not as acute as last night but she still was not quite herself.

Dr. Russell did her tests and the medication, Fentanyl, while addictive if taken too long and often was of the correct strength and she detected no unnecessary ingredients. Still, before leaving, Helena took a couple of 800mg Ibuprofen she had mixed together herself to take the edge off her discomfort and told Bob she was going to rest for a couple hours.

He was agreeable and said he would mention it to Dr. Vincent when he arrived for his shift.

Thinking deeply, Helena walked to her quarters and nearly rounded a corner when she heard what she thought was a sob. She slowed and was suddenly greeted by Yasko, who nearly ran into her, distracted and seeming in a panic.

"What's wrong?" Helena asked the pretty and delicate Communications Officer, noting her large glossy eyes as she looked into her own. Yasko looked as if she was running from someone or something.

"Did you see her?" Yasko asked, her Japanese accent thickening with dread.

"Who?"

"You had to have seen her, Doctor. She just rounded this corner!"

"I saw no one. Just you, Yasko." Helena took the young woman by the upper arms, "Who do you think you saw?"

Yasko looked away from Helena, tears falling from her eyes and cheeks. "You would not believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"It was …" Again she looked up at Helena, suddenly appearing to trust her. "It was _me_ , Dr. Russell! I saw myself!"

Perhaps before last night – having witnessed the oddness in her quarters and this morning, with the sudden recovery of Flemming, she might have told Yasko to go to Medical Center. Obviously, she needed something for her nerves.

Instead, Helena said: "I believe you."

* * *

Helena took Yasko to her own quarters and made the young woman sit down and relax as she prepared afternoon tea.

Maintenance had just left, having replaced the bathroom mirror, and gave both ladies a respectful salute as they walked away with Helena's old damaged mirror.

When Yasko inquired Helena told her the mirror had cracked the night before. She also told her she thought she saw another of herself before it had happened. She left out the part about the Commander spending the night with her. It wasn't a secret that she and John were romantically involved but why volunteer information that did not need to be gossiped about?

"Things seem to be breaking all over Alpha. Cranston in Technical said she dropped a magnifier that shattered and Steven's in Science said a row of test tubes shattered when a trolley ran into his desk."

Helena remembered the broken glass in Flemming's unit. She thought she had imagined it but now she was not so sure.

"Doctor, I know how crazy it sounds." Yasko sipped her tea as she held the cup with tense hands, sitting back on Helena's sofa. "I started seeing odd images … No, that's not right." She interrupted herself, "I had a _feeling_ that I was being watched at first. It started to happen shortly after the last space warp. I put it down to stress. We were all nervous and I supposed my mind was playing tricks on me."

Helena sat in a chair next to the sofa and nodded, "When did you start to see this other person?"

"It's not another person, Doctor. It's _me_ – but a different me. I know it makes no sense but it's as if she is waiting for something. Or maybe she knows that I know she's there – _and I should not_. None of the others are aware of their replacements …"

"Replacements?" Helena looked over the brim of her cup, uneasy.

"I think that is what she is. She is another version of me and I think that trip through the warp caused it to happen. Maybe it does it each time but, for some reason, I can see her waiting for me. I can already _see_ the change in many of our people."

Cedrick Flemming came to Helena's mind. He was also talking about how the people around him were changing. But then he stopped. Had he been replaced like all the others, despite his knowledge? He had been in Medical Center all night in the company of Bob Mathias and Clara.

Helena blinked, recalling her second in command's blasé attitude this morning. Bob had also changed overnight, as had the nurse. Clara – according to Cedrick – had already changed … _Somehow they had all been replaced?_

"Doctor, is there something?" Yasko watched Helena, her troubled expression, and found herself worried. "Are you thinking it's figment of my imagination?"

"On the contrary. It is making sense to me." Helena looked directly at Yasko. "When did you start seeing your double? Was it right after the warp?"

"No …" Yasko thought, "It was … after the detonation in the Eagle hanger."

There was the correlation. Yasko _and_ Flemming had been in that same explosion. _And so had Alan Carter._ She would need to speak with him – and John.

She wondered why the Commander had yet to be replaced but thought it probably had something to do with his strength of character. It was the same will that prevented John from being taken over by The Guardian when they had come into contact with Piri all those months ago.

And what about herself? Why was she not yet changed? It seemed obvious now. She was probably on the verge of that take-over when Flemming had thrown her again the partition.

All of them had received a trauma and it – in some odd way – was clearing their mind. They could see what was happening around them when the other Alphans could not.

"What can we do about it, Doctor?" Yasko asked.

And that was the question of the hour.

* * *

"Maya, we do not need any further excuses." John Koenig said from his console in Command Center. He stood behind it, his palms on the desktop, and he was not pleased. "I just want to know where we are in space and where we are headed."

Maya's expression betrayed her irritation. If the Commander had been looking directly at the Psychon rather than to the back of her auburn head, he might have shared that annoyance. "I am doing the best I can, Commander. But our computer has slowed up. Probably do to the space warp. When it comes back I will update you to the best of my ability."

It was as if she was reading from a script and Koenig felt patronized. Maya would not even offer a guess or a probable conclusion devised by her brilliant alien mind. It was almost as if she had something to hide.

"Sooner better than later." The Commander commented.

Helena walked in on the last of their exchange and took in the tense atmosphere. She saw Maya and Tony swap furtive glances, as if they were in cahoots, and it made Helena edgy. She had hoped at least Maya might have escape whatever entity was lurking in the confines of the moonbase.

"John," Helena spoke quietly over his shoulder, "I need to speak with you."

"I'm a little busy …" he started, turning to look at Helena, fighting off the frustration with his Science Officer. But when he saw Helena, the worry in her eyes, and remembered her injury and nervousness, his tone softened. "How are you?"

She smiled gently at his gesture and touched his arm, "It's urgent, John. Can we step out?"

* * *

Quietly, worried others might be listening in on their conversation, Helena quickly explained her theory to John as they walked to his quarters. "I told Yasko to go to her quarters and lock the door. As far as anyone else is concerned she is not feeling well and should not be disturbed. Alibe will take her place during her shift."

Unsure, Koenig used his comlock on his door and the couple walked in.

Helena could tell he was not yet completely sold on what she feared. Over the months she had learned to read John's thoughts by the way he used his hands and body language. Helena supposed that happened to the best of couples but, at a time like this, she wished he wasn't so clear to her. She needed her Commander's understanding and trust. Finally, Helena asked him to tell her what was on his mind.

"You said yourself that you are all victims of trauma. If that's the case, maybe it's your injuries that are the problem and the rest of us are fine." He was honest, "Isn't that reasonable?"

"Oh John. Look at me!" Helena stood before him in his lounging area. "Do I look like I'm out of my mind? Have I ever given you any reason in the past to believe I am anything other than level headed? You know me, John. If that bump to the head had done anything other than caused pain you would have _known_ it last night when you – tucked me in."

Koenig could not prevent a small smile as he looked down at his boots. He did not want Helena to think he wasn't taking her seriously but the whole thing sounded preposterous.

Still, out in deep space a lot of things were unreasonable and he had been involved in a lot of those scenarios, hoping his people would believe in him when he spoke about the ridiculous.

He then thought about the changes in Maya and Tony and how he saw Kate and Gene eyeing him, as if they knew something he did not. Finally even Sandra, who was his right arm in so many matters, had grown cool and removed. The people in his Command Center had changed, as Helena said, but he had been blinded to it. _Why?_

Helena answered when he asked. "You may not be replaced yet, John, but like me before the accident, you are being conditioned for the take-over. If it was believed – as I do – that we are being swapped then whatever intelligence is doing it wants a smooth transition."

"One thing I don't get … How did Flemming change when he was unaffected as you and Yasko?"

"He was restrained and in Medical Center with Clara, or the woman posing as Clara, all night. I think you need to be unconscious and with someone who is already changed for it to happen. That's why it did not happen to either of us last night."

"Someone has to be there to beckon it in?"

"I think so."

"We need to talk with Alan and quickly." Koenig said, "He has to know something is going on."

A blip was heard from Koenig's compost. Maya came into view on the screen. "Commander, I have some information for you. Can you return to Command Center?"

"Involving our position in space?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll be over in a minute."

They both watched as her image disappeared then looked at one another.

"John, it's not safe for any of us to be alone with them."

"They don't know _I_ know yet. I'll go in, see what she has to say, then I'll come back to you. Meanwhile, go find Alan. He should be in the hanger this time of day. Talk with him."

They both stood and gazed at one another for a moment.

" _Please_ be careful, John."

"I will." He leaned down and gently kissed her.

* * *

When they left to go on their perspective tasks, when the door sliced closed behind them, the mirror in John Koenig's quarters shattered and hands reached out to push away broken glass.

* * *

 _ **(To be continued ...)**_


	4. Chapter 4

**(4)**

They spoke to one another alone in the control room, a large window looking out into Alpha's immense hanger. Two Eagles were lifted from their pads by heavy mechanical arms, a maintenance procedure commencing.

Carter told her it was necessary. "The moon's been plunged through three space warps in succession, something that has never happened to us before." Alan paused for emphasis, "Eagles hate it."

"Are they damaged?' Helena asked as she watched the procedure.

"Not as far as we can tell but it plays havoc with the fuel mixture. We don't know why but it becomes heavier and thicker. Eventually the fuel lightens again after a week but if you've ever noticed, after a trip through a warp, we have to ground the Eagles until the conversion takes place. After three space warps in a row who knows how long it will take for them to be operational this time."

Helena stared at Alan for a moment as he looked distractedly out the window, an odd thoughtfulness about him. She suddenly wondered - if Alan had been experiencing the things she, Yasko and Flemming did - was he contemplating flying an Eagle far from Alpha? Taking a chance she flatly asked: "Have you noticed changes … _in our people_?"

He turned and looked directly at her, relief spreading across his handsome face. "Yeah." The Australian pilot's expression clearly showed a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Two of my best mates …" He let the comment hang for a moment. "Strangers." he completed.

Leaning in close, Helena told Carter of her suspicions, how Alpha seemed be the target of an alien take-over. "So far John, Yasko, and we two are the only ones not affected."

"John too?" he clarified.

"So far." Helen inhaled, "But that won't last long if we don't figure out how to stop and reverse what has happened." Helena looked to the pad, watching two busy technicians waving hand held lights at the crane operator, telling him where to position one of the hanging Eagles.

"Who are they? What do they want?" Alan wondered.

"I'm not sure but I should have known something was happening even before Yasko told me her story and some piece started to fit together."

"Why?'

"When I entered Medical Center Dr. Mathias quickly came over and told me how _well_ Flemming was doing."

"So?"

"Alan, I've known Bob for a long time. Never once did he ask me how _I_ was feeling. He was the attending doctor when I was attacked, he examined me and gave me medication, and the first thing he should have asked when he saw me was how _I_ felt. Not just to be friendly but because it's something a doctor automatically does."

"That's crazy." Alan nodded, now anxious. "Okay, what do we do from here?"

"John said he would find us when he could get away from Command Center. Let's go to Yasko and wait for him. Between the four of us maybe we can come up with a solution."

* * *

They walked quickly but calmly through the halls, acknowledging fellow Alphans but knowing they were not their true friends. They had been in dire straits before but this time it was nearly unbearable. They could trust no one.

When Yasko let them into her tidy room, adorned with miniature bonsai trees and a charming tea set prepared for company, Helena was a little surprised but the young woman's calm exterior. She greeted them kindly and, if she was afraid, Yasko did not show it. Helena, for the moment, did not think further about her demeanor because it was Yasko's intelligence and calmness under pressure that made her an asset as a Command Center communications expert.

"Will the Commander be here soon?" she asked when Carter put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"He will." Alan said, "And once that happens we'll figure something out. Commander Koenig is a smart man and he's probably been thinking over our options since the Doc here figured out Alpha has a problem."

"How and why is this happening, Dr. Russell?" She and Alan sat on the sofa in the lounging area of her quarters. The room itself was not as big as the Command Quarters but it was comfortable.

Helena recalled that, until Cedrick and Clara married, Yasko had been roommates with Clara Flemming. It must have come as a big shock to her when she discovered her friend and one time colleague had changed so drastically.

"I know it has something to do with breaking glass." Helena said, "I've had time to think about it and always, when a change takes place, the cracking or shattering of glass occurs …"

"That's right." Alan recalled, "I was talking to Bill and Annette Fraiser a day before their personalities altered and they told me while they were in the east end café a tray of glasses were wiped-out on a table not far from them. No one could explain how it happened."

Helena nodded, "Yasko, you told me about Cranston and Steven. And a glass partition shattered when Flemming attacked me but was quickly repaired. I thought I imagined it but then the mirror in my quarters cracked …"

"Cracked?" Carter asked, a little nervous now.

"Just cracked, Alan." Helena could not help a small smile. "However, if I had been alone that night – if one of our infected had come into my quarters – I would have changed like everyone else. But I was with John and …" Forgetting herself, Helena allowed a chuckle and looked down at her feet.

She could hear Alan and Yasko also snickered and it might have lightened the serious moment considerably except for one thing.

On the carpet covering the slick tiled floor of Yasko's impeccable quarters, near Helena's left boot, was a shard of glass; a piece of mirror to be exact. Slowly, Helena looked up and directly at Yasko, who suddenly seemed to see what Helena saw.

With a quick jerk of her head, Helena looked over to where Yasko's bathroom was - the door slightly ajar – and she could see the corner of her shattered mirror.

But more importantly in the glass that remained, Helena could see two figures, one being Clara Flemming, attempting to hide her presence!

"Alan!" Helena shouted but too late. She watched as Yasko launched herself at the confused man beside her, holding him still. Frightened, Helena backed up and saw Clara … and a man who looked exactly like Alan Carter walked from the bathroom into the lounge.

He looked at Helena and said: "It's not what you think, Dr. Russell."

"Run Helena!" Carter shouted from the sofa as Clara and the other Carter, the duplicate alien, made their way over to him, overwhelming him. "Go to John Koenig! Find him ….!"

It was too late to help Alan and Helena, disoriented and panicked, was out of the room running.

* * *

 _ **(To be continued ...) Oh no ... :o**_


	5. Chapter 5

**(5)**

She hated what she had done and made a note to blame herself later, when there was time, for abandoning Alan. He had been a good friend, an ally, and she could do nothing for him. _'Useless.'_ She thought.

But he had been the one shouting at her, imploring Helena to find John, because Alan knew if anyone was going to get Moonbase Alpha back again it was going to be their Commander. How many times in the past had John come through for them when all seemed lost?

Helena walked quickly in the direction of Command Center, panicking on the inside but smiling and nodding at the Alphans – _the aliens!_ – that passed her in the hallways on her way there. She wondered if the others, the creatures in Yasko's quarters, had already called to the sham Maya and Tony. And if they had … was John in jeopardy?

So many dreadful thoughts ran through Helena's mind, including how she had looked into her own mirror and saw one of them, those kidnapping terrors, without even realizing it! That woman had looked back at her, mimicking her, wanting her body and soul, but was thwarted …

As Helena approached Command Center, she paused; steadying her hands. She was about to activate the doors when they sliced opened before her. John stood there, on his way out, and quickly put a finger to his lips – indicating she should not say a word.

"Don't summon me unless it's urgent." he called over his shoulder.

"Yes, sir." replied an operative.

Helena caught sight of the backs of Maya, Tony, Sandra and a few others as they looked up at the screen; at an unfamiliar star pattern. It appeared to be a nearly rectangular galaxy. 'Where were they headed this time?' she wondered.

The Commander shut the doors behind him and took her arm, turning Helena around to retrace her steps. He asked, "Alan?"

" _Taken_." She replied, a shiver in her voice. "Yasko too."

"We need to go to either mine or your quarters. We need time to think and …"

"No John, those will be the first places they look."

Both were quiet for a moment, smiling and nodding at a couple, who called: "Good evening, Commander … Doctor …"

She looked up at him, watching his expression as his mind raced.

"The bunkers." Koenig finally said, "The rooms near the catacombs. We'll lock ourselves in. That will give us some time; not much but hopefully enough time for us to arrange a getaway."

"How, John? The Eagles are down. Alan said so before he … he was changed."

"We'll figure it out, Helena. Come on." He pulled her arm gently but firmly.

They stopped briefly in the Weapon's Section, a pop inspection where the Commander questioned a couple of his men on standard procedures, nothing out of the ordinary, and Dr. Russell asked them a few medical related questions; again, standard procedure.

As Koenig and the distracted men conversed, Helena was able to lift a stun gun and she hid it inside her jacket.

Minutes later, they took a travel tube and waited nervously inside for it to dock.

On the way, handing the gun over to John, Helena asked: "What did they tell you in Command Center about our location in space?"

"We're headed into a galaxy called Tumeric 5. Maya finally found it on a deep space map. Lots of potentially habitable planets but it will be months before we run into the first of them." Then he added, "That is what she _said_."

"You think she was lying?"

"Remember, as far as these people are concerned their Commander has not been changed yet. She could tell me anything because I supposedly think she is Maya. I'd believe anything she said." He thought further, "Helena, if we could find just one functioning Eagle you and I could …"

The tube docked, interrupting his thoughts. When the door slowly sliced open, John positioned himself before it, in a protective gesture. Helena stood behind him but peered over his shoulder to see if any of the underground work crews were approaching.

"Must be dinner time." Koenig murmured. He moved forward, feeling Helena close behind him, drawing the stun gun and looking about.

Helena grimaced. The catacombs were dark and eerie. She sincerely disliked them.

Like the labyrinths around them, the rooms were small but interconnected. Few had doors but they managed to find one with a table, a pitcher of water, and a few chairs. It was a break room of sorts, surrounded with potted lights, and during the days when they had something to laugh about there was probably jokes and raucous behavior from the underground crew.

When Koenig slid the door closed and turned to face Helena, she was in his arms, her head on his shoulder, as she absorbed his warmth.

"Oh John, this is impossible." She whispered, "Tell me what we're going to do. How are we going to get our people back?"

He gently put his arms around her and rubbed her back as he held her. He spoke nearly dreamily: "Believing in our own abilities is what has gotten us as far as we have here in deep space. Helena, I sincerely believe you will get your people back. _Just as mine have returned to me_."

Helena stiffened in his embrace, hearing his words, and slowly pulled back. Something was wrong. She looked up into that so familiar face, the lines she had memorized over the months, the eyes so blue and beautiful – cool one moment then burning with passion the next … and there was potential for all those things even now but ...

 _But not for her._ "They ... they took you in Command Center, didn't they?"

Helena's heart skipped a beat at his next words.

"I am sorry for the deception, Dr. Russell. Truly I am …"

She backed away from him, shaking, watching as he lifted the gun and aimed it at her. Helena turned to one of the openings, thinking of a quick get away, and saw her double standing there. She was calm, her hands clasped together, and she appeared as sorrowful as her Commander.

The woman was identical to Helena, the woman in the mirror, who mimicked her movements and bided her time until the opportunity was made available. Her hair, uniform, figure – everything was the same. Even her voice … "Do not be afraid, Doctor." She said and looked a little away from her as the being that was indistinguishable to John Koenig moved into view.

He lifted a free hand to touch the woman's but they came only so close when it appeared an invisible barrier kept them apart. "You see, Dr. Russell, you need to return to where you people have gone …" He smiled gently nearly lovingly at the other woman, " … because I want _my_ Helena to return to me."

Backing away from both of them, Helena cried: "No!"

* * *

 _ **To be continued ... Yipes! Final chapter.**_


	6. Chapter 6

**(6)**

She saw color. Reds, blues, yellows … a myriad of hues and the sound about her, possibly music, was nearly soothing. Had she made a mistake agreeing to make this leap into the unknown? In the end, it would not have made a difference. Whether she agreed or not, they were going to send her away no matter what she said.

However, they were convincing.

"Please, don't be afraid." she said, "You don't understand. Your people … _John_ is waiting for you."

Helena looked at both of them, the man she would have sworn was John Koenig, the Commander of Moonbase Alpha … and her lover. And the woman, identical to her in every way but one – She most definitely was _not_ her! Yet, her manner was so much like her own …

He lowered the gun, seeing the distrust in Helena's eyes, and beheld the woman standing beside him, "She needs to be told, my love."

The woman looked up at him, surprised. "It's not entirely necessary." She said, echoing the thoughts in Helena's head. "As with the others she will understand when …"

"She's the last. We owe her this. If it ever happens to them again it will give them a leg up." He thought further, "And maybe, if she knows, it will discontinue the cycle. We can stop this madness and continue on our own journey."

Helena looked from one to the other, breathing heavily. She was a woman now alone. And she was cornered.

"Please, sit down. Allow us to explain." He said, a hand waving at the table and chairs beside them.

Helena nodded slowly, as she might if the real John Koenig asked her to do his bidding, "Why are you doing this to us?" she asked, sitting.

The two aliens joined her.

"You have been displaced." The woman said. "You are on _our_ Moonbase Alpha and you must return to your own."

Puzzled, Helena searched their faces for clues that were difficult to fathom. "This is _our_ Alpha and you have invaded us!"

"No." He leaned forward and shook his head back and forth, "There are dimensions in space you cannot possibly be aware of. We weren't aware of them until a year ago when we would go through space warps and this disruption happened, over and over again. _We are you, Dr. Russell_. All of the Alphans here are the same as your people but we live a different life in deep space, have had different adventures and experiences, but we are still very much the same as you – because we _are_ you."

The woman said, "But living in a different dimension than yours."

Helena blinked. They seemed so sincere.

She continued, "We have been through so many displacements, so many warps, honestlty more times than we can count, having to push our other selves back into their own dimension and back to their own Moonbase Alpha." She paused, "At least that is what we believe is happening."

 _My God_ , Helena thought, _how many dimensions are there?_ _Infinite perhaps?_ "But you're not sure where the other Alphans, the ones you are forcing away, have gone?" Helena could not help her exclamation. She was not even sure if she believed them but it did make a strange kind of sense even to her frightened and slightly addled mind.

"All we are sure about is you do not belong here and soon, very soon, if you do not return to where ever it is you come from you will not be able to leave. The window is closing quickly, Doctor. There are only hours left."

Something like this had happened before, Helena suddenly realized. They had gone through a mysterious area in space that brought them to Earth of the future and there were people there – _themselves_. And they too said they needed to return to Alpha. They did not belong … and those Alphans had been right.

The woman's voice suddenly grew low and somber, "And if you do not return, Helena, allowing me to take my rightful place here on our Alpha, I will be lost."

Helena watched as the Koenig of this world looked over at his woman with misery in his eyes. This was no untruth. He truly did feel love for this woman, just as she loved her John Koenig. Still, there was something that needed to be said. "I have a feeling you don't need _my_ permission. You didn't have the approval of any of the Alphans you replaced."

"True enough." The man - John Koenig - said, "But we are asking you to understand and do what you must. Trust us, please."

It was spoken with that same persuasive voice she had heard her own Commander use time and again.

"Don't you want to go back to your Alpha?" Then the woman smiled ever so softly, "Don't you want to return to your friends – and John?" She again pressed the point, glancing at her man, knowing how she would reply.

 _Of course_ , Helena thought, but looked at them and said nothing, thinking.

"Your love is waiting for you." The woman urged, "Even if we cannot be certain – I truly believe your people, your Alpha, and your world is waiting for you."

Helena closed her eyes and wavered. Besides that, what was the use in living on an Alpha where she was not wanted? If she remained stubborn, if she refused, she would be living with … aliens (?) … who did not want her or need her on this moonbase. She could be separating lovers for all time ... And if there was a chance they were right, that John and the others were waiting for her in another dimension … she needed to take it. "Will it be painful?" she asked.

"No." Commander Koenig stood and reached a hand forward, asking her to take his own.

 _Yes_ , Helena thought. He was John, strong and decisive, but … _different_. Isn't that the term Cedrick Flemming had used from the very beginning? She stood and allowed his fingers to grasp her hand, the feeling warm.

She felt a deep longing despite her reservations. He had called his Helena "my love" and while her John might say something like this in private he would never say it aloud to others. _Differences._

He brought her over to the other Dr. Russell and Helena hesitated but only briefly, looking into the woman's soft but sincere eyes – _her_ eyes.

"Okay." Helena said, courageously. "Let's do this."

The last thing she remembered before the color was the woman walking toward her, touching her, melting into her and they were right. There was no pain. Then she was thrust, practically flying, through sounds, colors and space … Yes, she could see stars, more vivid than she had ever seen them before, but then she started to see Alpha.

It sat before her as if she was watching it from an Eagle … but she was quickly falling and Helena became afraid. She was going to crash … She was going to …. _Die?!_

* * *

 ** _(Continue to the Epilogue)_**


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

When Helena Russell awoke she was lying on a dirt-packed floor and, uncertain where she was, nearly panicked. She looked up at the damp craggy stone walls about her and the first thought Helena had was that she had been buried alive.

 _How could they have betrayed her so?_

And her head hurt again. She lifted a hand to touch the back of her scalp and felt a slight swelling. If this was Hell feeling pain was only natural, she thought.

But then she heard voices and slowly stood, looking about, her vision somewhat blurry but getting better as she looked about in the darkened tunnel.

"Helena!"

 _My love?_

It was a very familiar voice but could it really be him; the _real_ him? And it occurred to Helena where she was.

 _The catacombs._

"John?" Her voice was nearly a croak. She looked to the fork in the tunnels, nervous but also anxious!

"Helena!" he called again.

"I'm here!" she replied.

Then she saw him, followed by what appeared to be Alan, Maya and Tony … Helena wanted to run to him but she hesitated, her hands lifted as he approached. "Is it you?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Tell me, is it _you_?!"

"Yes," His arms raised as he approached, the voice gentle, his eyes gleaming with emotion. "It's me … and you are home."

She collapsed into his arms, pressing herself against his body, so grateful. She held him as John Koenig embraced her. Somehow she, all of them had crossed a dimension, and came back to their Moonbase Alpha.

Those others had theorized correctly that each set of Alphans had their own place. That was still difficult to get her head around and Helena thought she might need to talk with Maya about it some day when she was better able to reconstruct what had happened in her mind.

"Why do you suppose there were differences in their personalities?" Maya wondered aloud, "If they were _us_ – why the variances?" She looked at Helena but addressed them all.

"Their experiences in outer space were not entirely the same as our own." Helena said, remembering Maya's coldness on the other Alpha. What, she wondered, had made Maya so uncaring in that world. "And, from what they told me, they have been going through the same cycle over and over again. They go through a warp and have to fight off their doubles to maintain their base and lives."

"That's enough to make anyone bitter and tense." Tony said, recalling a few encounters before he had been transferred.

However, one thing Helena did hope - as had the others - that in telling her their story she might have broken the cycle for those unfortunates. Helena sincerely hoped so.

She looked over at her friends who were all smiling and appeared relieved. Another disaster diverted.

"You had us worried, Doc." Alan said, "We thought we might have lost you when you didn't follow John, Yasko and myself."

She looked up at Koenig, "They swapped you in Command Center – they sent you back here?"

"Not without a struggle." He said, "But when I realized what was happening, that we were being sent to our own Alpha, I could only hope and pray you would comprehend unlike I did and eventually follow."

"You should have been there when I showed up. After that spooky trip …" Alan said. "… here I was in Yasko's quarters and it took John, Tony and Maya to convince me I was sent home to Alpha."

"Home." Helena exhaled and looked up at Koenig again, her head pain dwindling by the second.

"Has it ever really been anything else?" John asked, smiling gently.

Maya, Tony and Alan politely looked away as the couple gently kissed.

 _Yes,_ Helena thought as his lips covered her own, _it truly was so good to be home!_

 ** _THE END_**

* * *

 _ **Becky - March 2016. Hope you enjoyed this fiction!**_


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